Jarvik-7 May Come To Shands Hospital At Uf Asks To Use Artificial Heart

August 28, 1986|By Rosemary Goudreau of The Sentinel Staff (Debbie Salamone of The Independent Florida Alligator contributed to this story.)

Shands Hospital in Gainesville is seeking federal approval to use artificial hearts on patients who otherwise would die waiting for a human heart transplant.

The University of Florida hospital is one of 11 medical centers nationwide asking permission to use the Jarvik-7 artificial heart as a bridge to heart transplants, spokeswoman Deb Feldman said Wednesday. Four others have obtained approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Shands would become the only hospital in the state using the device.

''It's important to know we're not using it as a permanent replacement for a human heart,'' said hospital spokeswoman Virginia Hunt. Instead, the plastic pump would be used temporarily until a human heart became available.

Since beginning last August, the Shands transplant program has given new hearts to 16 people. During the same year, three candidates died waiting for a human donor, Feldman said.

Shands' 10-member transplant team, which recently completed two weeks of training at the University of Utah Medical Center, expects it would use the artificial heart about four times the first year. Only patients expected to die within 24 to 48 hours would be eligible for the procedure. They probably would have the artificial heart one to three weeks before getting a human heart, Hunt said.

Feldman said FDA approval could come within a few weeks but could take several months.

Dr. William DeVries of Louisville, Ky., is the only surgeon authorized by the FDA to use the heart as a permanent device. He has been given permission to perform seven implants and has performed five. William Schroeder, who died Aug. 6, was the last and longest survivor. He lived 602 days.

Critics of the artificial heart say those who receive it lead bleak lives. All recipients have suffered neurological damage and have had to live at or near a hospital. Many experts say the device should be used only as a temporary measure.